Imagine the seminal real-time strategy game, Warcraft, under a microscope. The huddle of wind-swept, earth-toned tents and huts on a low-cut plain; the snow-dense bowl of a cold mountain village, pimpled with boulders and stone-cut buildings; trees hung dark and heavy over a mossy graveyard mausoleum in a dying forest. Within these colorful and distinctive environments live the individual inhabitants of the Warcraft universe, each with their own unique story to tell.

At long last Blizzard has transformed its flagship RTS into their long-anticipated MMO offering, World of Warcraft (WoW). Now, the transcendental awareness and speed of a Night Elf or the contemplative, spiritual bulk of a Tauren comes to life in vivid detail. The change in perspective doesn't make Warcraft gameplay any less addictive; indeed, it becomes that much more personal when the player gets to build his or her own Warcraft personality and traverse the vast lands of Azeroth for fortune and glory.

For an initial effort, so many things have been done right with WoW. Given Blizzard's history of refinement and quality, who would expect less? The menu interfaces and the heads-up display (HUD) are the first things to come across as entirely well designed. Character development screens are hot-keyed and easy to navigate, showing everything from basic attributes, such as strength or armor, to class abilities, such as magic casting or special combat moves. From the same abilities menu, commonly used actions can be placed on a customizable menu bar at the bottom of the screen. This option is further enhanced by Cosmos, a flexible add-on that can be downloaded, which allows for even more menu bar action buttons. If Cosmos hadn't come around sooner, there would undoubtedly be loud complaints; with so many class abilities, players will really appreciate them once they're within the reach of a simple mouse click.

Overall character development is reined in from being too complex without losing the critical depth required to keep the player coming back for more. In addition to class choice running the range from Warrior to Warlock, one can also train for primary and secondary professions such as mining, herbalism, engineering, or alchemy, some of which complement each other (like herbalism with alchemy). Overachievers will appreciate the unlimited number of second tier of professions they can train for, such as cooking, fishing, and first aid. These latter professions are certainly not essential to progress, but they do provide an advantageous and even personalized touch to an already engrossing character development system. Those with diverse interests are well served by Blizzard's generous allotment of character slots; players are allowed to create 50 total characters, a maximum of 10 per server across more than 80 realm servers, with the initial account.

The world of Warcraft, itself, is boldly artistic and reminiscent of the earlier games in the series' aesthetic. Across two vast continents every ecological medium from the verdant, tree-heavy glades of the Elven territories, to the open plains and plateaus of the Taurens, to the fiery fissures of a volcanic region, is available to explore depending on your ability to survive there. Many of the races have their own capital cities, which truly feel like bustling, living urban centers. I'm embarrassed to say I've been lost more than once in a few of them, but then, I don't get along well with malls. Many smaller towns dot the map at regular intervals, and the distance between any two of them is reasonable. Once an area becomes less fruitful to traverse on foot, one can soar across the landscape on the back of an aerial beast, such as a griffin or a bat, between almost any two towns that supply them. Whether by air or by ground, the terrain is as diverse and beautifully designed as the races and characters that dwell within it.

One of the most appealing aspects of WoW is its smooth curve for level progression. There are really no great lengths of time that feel unnecessary, or like the player is not getting anywhere. In one day, by myself no less, I was able to put one or two levels on one of my characters. In contrast to that measure of productivity, players of other MMO games can have a hard time putting on one level in a week. Player interest will remain high through the critical first 15-20 levels, as the levels are productive even if the player decides not to engage in the efficient completion of quests. Blizzard has also made solo questing and quick pick-up-and-play sessions a feasible reality for the online hermit and the average working joe; there's no need to plan your day around teammates or 4-hour marathons. However, the WoW community is helpful and considerate overall, so when going alone won't do, there is almost always someone willing to help out. I've found the average player to be amenable to assistance and even, for the most part, competent.

Player vs. Player (PvP) is a contentious issue for WoW, as it pervades every corner of the designated PvP servers. The game was released without any sort of behavioral guidelines for the warring Alliance and Horde factions, and has produced a playground of bullies and blowhards incessantly preying on lower levels. Admittedly, I'm not used to PvP, but it seems that the anarchy in aggression has created two very loud, distinct schools of thought on the subject. Either you play PvP and stop whining about being killed for the thousandth time by that enemy player character 20 levels above you, or you try to encourage honor amongst warriors and bemoan the insecurities of WoW's bullies. A PvP Ranking System is in the works, but due to server stability optimization and frantic stopgap repairs (discussed below), it may be a while before a modicum of order is brought to the PvP servers. All things considered, it's not that inhibiting, and while it can get annoying to have to fight through irrational gangs of indiscriminate thugs, there's almost always somewhere else you can go to get away from them and still continue with the game.

Amidst all that is good and right with WoW, there are two things that have tarnishing the good name of Blizzard and its MMO efforts: stability and availability. Online games are never easy to put together and Blizzard miscalculated the level of interest in their game by a wide margin. The deluge of roughly 600,000 players plowing into the game within the first month or so caught Blizzard by surprise and completely overwhelmed their capacity. The initial 40 servers were increased to over 80, and they're still trying to iron out a myriad of basic server stability issues, leaving no time to pay attention to the game bugs that desperately need to be fixed. Credit should be given to Blizzard for pouring their all into the resolution of these problems, but it doesn't alleviate player frustrations. Those frustrations, though scathingly sincere and intense, are a true sign of how much people anticipate logging on and playing.

To call World of Warcraft a disappointment would undermine the work that's gone into creating such an immersive and addictive game. When players find themselves devoting so much time and energy to connecting with other players, organizing a raid, pinpointing a profession path, or playing the market by selling items at the auction house, there's no point in being bitter about the shortcomings. Blizzard's penchant for expansions and the impending release of Battlegrounds, a designated PvP arena with RTS sensibilities, insure that there is quite a bit to look forward to. Eventually the bugs will get worked out, and in the meantime, those who are playing it are involved in an MMO with a satisfying character development structure, beautiful environments, and plenty of inherent Warcraft personality.